The potential benefits of travel consolidation

"The potential benefits of consolidation are well-documented,” said Louise Miller, BCD Travel executive vice president of global business solutions, sales & marketing. “Companies can achieve savings of as much as 25 percent and gain other key benefits at the same time. "

Corporate travel specialist BCD Travel has released a white paper titled "One size fits all? Consolidating your travel programme". It explores what consolidation means in the modern travel industry and what companies can hope to achieve from the substantial effort required to consolidate travel policies.

In addition to defining consolidation and exploring benefits such as cost savings and increased traveler safety, the paper details how to execute a successful consolidation.

"The potential benefits of consolidation are well-documented,” said Louise Miller, BCD Travel executive vice president of global business solutions, sales & marketing. “Companies can achieve savings of as much as 25 percent and gain other key benefits at the same time. But what we take great pains to do in this white paper is to provide guidance for those taking on a consolidation. The road to a consolidated travel program can be fraught with pitfalls and frustration if you don’t have great partners, executive support and the right plans. That said, if you have these in place, consolidation can deliver a long list of important returns.”

- Outlined here are a few of the key points detailed in the white paper:

Corporations are looking to manage risk, not just cut costs. Consolidation can deliver better security and safety for travelers, reduce complexity of the corporate travel program and enable a company’s TMC to deliver stronger service.

- Consolidation means different things to different companies. For some it could simply mean having a common travel policy or a common service delivery across the company. Others could interpret it as standardizing every element of the travel program in one region or globally.

- Careful planning is key to consolidation success. Starting with a clear road map and gathering detailed management/company information at the outset smoothes the process.

- Senior management support is critical. A consolidation must have executive support, and the consolidation team should include members from all areas of the business and the regions being consolidated.

- One size does not fit all. Each travel program and company is unique, and the service configuration should fulfill those unique needs. This paper includes an eight-step method that can be tailored and applied to deliver a healthy return on investment.